Salesforce makes Einstein Bots for Service Cloud generally available

Salesforce is bringing its Einstein Bots to market as part of the next generation of Service Cloud, along with a bevy of other new features.

With Einstein Bots, the aim is to help companies automate routine customer service requests and improve customer experiences regardless of whether customers are interacting with a bot, an agent, or a combination of the two. The bots use historical service data and CRM data to form their answers, but they can also hand the conversation off to a human employee if needed.

Meanwhile, developers and admins can use the same point-and-click interface to build custom chatbots. Examples of Einstein Bots would be a chatbot that helps track a customer's order or one that can reset passwords.

Salesforce originally introduced the Bots pilot at Dreamforce last year and has since iterated on the concept with more intricate features. Instead of just automating queries, the bots were made to connect to customer data and process woven throughout. That's where Salesforce's other new product, Einstein Next Best Action, comes into play.

Einstein Next Best Action guides agents and customers by surfacing recommended answers and offers and uses AI to analyze the conversation in real time. The system pulls from both Salesforce and non-Salesforce data to provide recommendations. The main idea is to help with problem resolution and highlight upsell opportunities.

Salesforce's process automation tool Lightning Flow is also being made generally available today.

"Artificial intelligence alone will not drive your business forward -- AI must be connected to CRM data and guided processes so companies can create seamless experiences that put customers at the center," said Bill Patterson, SVP, and GM of Salesforce Service Cloud, in a press release. "Today is a big step forward in empowering our customers with an easy way to provide guided, intelligent service at scale."